In League of Legends players die too quickly. Many professionals see this as the main problem in the balancing of LoL. The lead gameplay designer of LoL stated this Saturday, April 30th: They have really gone too far with this. In the coming weeks, they want to discuss how to slow down the combat speed.
What is the biggest problem in LoL? For many experts and players, the biggest problem in LoL has been a kind of “ping-pong” with the health bars for years:
- The damage in League of Legends is so high that players fall from full health points to 0 health points and die in an instant – There is no way to react
- To compensate for the high damage and thereby make “healing” effective, healing is also extremely strong: People can heal themselves in LoL from “almost dead” back to full health points within seconds through “lifesteal”
The expert Doublelift criticized this “ping-pong” meta in October 2021: People die too quickly on one hand, yet they are immediately back to full health on the other.
Doublelift raised this criticism a year ago: Generally, this is an opinion shared by many: League of Legends has, in their opinion, generally “become too fast.”
Riot wants to slow down “fights” in LoL
This is what the developers are saying now: In a recent discussion on reddit about whether to increase “time to kill”, Bryan “CatchesAxes” Salvatore, the lead gameplay designer, weighs in. He is exactly the person responsible for this.
Salvatore explained on Saturday, April 30, 2022, that Riot wants to talk about upcoming changes in the next few weeks that should slow down combat in LoL (via reddit):
We believe that League of Legends is best on average when it is fast and exciting, but yes, we think it is fair to say that we have shifted the balance too far towards damage: This affects visibility (“I can’t tell what just killed me/I can’t tell what I should have done differently”) and it affects the way one can display their skill (“The mage/The assassin used their whole kit, so they deserve the kill.”)
Bryan “CatchesAxes” Salvatore, Lead Gameplay Designer of LoL, Riot Games
Glass cannons must kill in 2 seconds or they are useless
What is the problem? The lead game designer explains why the issue with damage is so delicate. It is not possible to simply say: “Okay, now everyone just deals half as much damage.”
There are some “glass cannon” champions who need to kill quickly or they are worthless. This applies to Kai’Sa, for example. She must be able to take down “backline champions” in 2 seconds or she is “worthless” because she will fall herself without having caused any damage.
However, the problem is champions like Nocturne, Veigar, Kayn, Cassiopeia, Vayne, and others who build tank items and can still one-shot or “one-combo” ADCs.
Anyone who can kill a character with a combo must also be a “glass cannon” and in principle only wear paper armor so that the “risk vs. reward” formula fits, Salvatore said.
Therefore, they will primarily address “tank bruisers” and mages that are considered too tanky.
Riot wants to emphasize “risk vs. reward” more in balancing
This is what is behind it: The statement from the lead gameplay designer now creates uncertainty among many about whether their champion will be affected and how exactly the changes will impact gameplay.
Riot has not yet wanted to show their cards on how best to change the balance.
However, the designer made it clear once again how he envisions balance: One can deal extreme amounts of damage with a champion, but then one must also accept that they cannot withstand much.
The lead gameplay designer sees the problem in champions that deal too much damage while also being too stable.
In recent months, Riot has repeatedly tried to adjust the balance:
LoL announces systemic changes to the meta to address a major problem
